January Alibaba Group organizes its inaugural Ali Chinese New Year Shopping Festival.
An offline activity of the inaugural Ali Chinese New Year Shopping Festival
March Alibaba Group exceeds RMB3 trillion in FY2016 gross merchandise volume (GMV) on its China retail marketplaces and subsequently becomes the largest retail economy in the world.
April Alibaba Group enters into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia.
May Alibaba Group launches the Alibaba Global Leadership Academy (AGLA) program, a talent development program dedicated to fostering future Alibaba global leaders.
First batch of AGLA program participants
July Alibaba Group launches OS'Car, the first YunOS-enabled, mass produced internet car, in collaboration with SAIC Motor Corp.
The first OS'Car
July The Alibaba Foundation holds the Inaugural Xin Philanthropy Conference.
The Inaugural Xin Philanthropy Conference
July Alibaba Group hosts the inaugural Taobao Maker Festival to showcase the creative ideas and designs of Taobao merchants to the world.
The inaugural Taobao Maker Festival
September The concept of an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) envisioned by Jack Ma is included in the official communiqué of the G20 summit and gains support from World Trade Organization Director General Roberto Azevêdo.
October Alibaba Group announces the formal establishment of the Alibaba Digital Media & Entertainment Group.
November Alibaba Cloud announces the opening of four new data centers in the Middle East (Dubai), Europe (Frankfurt), Australia (Sydney) and Japan (Tokyo).
